An Asian-Canadian's traveling saga & literary tidbit
Life's contentment is not about sitting around in one's familiar place, but rather it is realized from far-flung places away from it. Traveling is my ultimate life's saga.

Tokyo before the tragedy 2 - (TOKYO, Japan - Thursday, March 10, 2011)

"The ensuing trade-ins of "Hai!", crossing of forearms for a "no", and showing of pictured food offerings are acknowledged with my only well-known Japanese  'Arigato(u)'..."

(cont'd...)
As normal as the things could possibly be, after checking-in with the hotel staff and putting away our luggage in our suite, we went out to have our supper.

Though the hotel has its amenities such as kitchen, the impressively arrayed small restaurants - juxtaposed one after the other on sidewalks, each with clear glass display windows showcasing an artfully arranged plate and bowl of sushi, tempura, udon, etc. (almost like bric-a-brac objects in a museum), are overwhelming enough to summon our suppressed gastronomical desire that night. We pick and enter one restaurant further away from our hotel. 

Couple of things that strike us most are the Japanese people politeness and respect of time. They would sense right away if one's a non-local, and would try all their might thru gestures and pictures to convey.

The ensuing trade-ins of "Hai!", crossing of forearms for a "no", and showing of pictured food offerings are acknowledged with my only well-known Japanese word "Arigato(u)" and in return, concludes our order by their polite agreement thru head-bowing. It was indeed an adequate way to ensure we would have the right noodles we anticipated. And we did!

The universal knowledge that Japanese are exceptionally hardworking emerged from the restaurant patrons' way of dealing. No one inside the restaurant tend to hang around after each meal, but gladly would give away their seats once they're done! Customer would place their payment in a cash tray (no literal handing of money) before a cashier accepts it and conversely, for a change. The customer would leave the restaurant right away.

This and other admirable traits of the Japanese people we experienced are some of the many reasons our hearts sink with them at this horrific tragedy. (to be continued...)
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Although the author has no professional writing credential nor an all-embracing traveling experience, it is the inspiration drawn out from lives surrounding him as well as sharing his works with readers that make him enthused about writing; his occasional travel - often spontaneous, inspires him to pen such adventure. He currently lives in western Canada with his wife. ***COPYRIGHT TO ENTRIES RESERVED EXCEPT OTHERWISE INDICATED***
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